Fitness Tips from a Semi-Fit Mom

Before I write this post, you should know that I am NOT a fitness guru. And I love Big Macs. And it is with that love of Big Macs in mind that I exercise. Because I like to consider myself a moderate kind of gal. Sure, I'll eat the french fries, but I'll also do an hour of strength training. But it wasn't always like this.

... let's go back in time. Back when I was a teenager. And hadn't had the BLESSING of body-ruining children. And just naturally had six-pack abs despite the fact that one of my friends worked at Burger King and got me free Whoppers. And then I'd go for a 5-mile run with my friends who were both named Katy/Katie and it was nothing. Ah yes, those were the days. I want to go back in time and tell teenage Jae "Enjoy that bod, Jae. enjoy those 5-mile runs where you barely broke a sweat and enjoy those Fluff on cookies binges! For meeeeeeeeeee."

Then came baby numero uno. I remember seeing my post-baby body literally five minutes after giving birth and being like "I'm a MONSTERRRRRRR" because obviously, I still looked pregnant. Luckily, the baby weight went away quick, but I had to actually exercise for the first time. And by exercise I mean I'd walk my baby around in a stroller a couple of times a week and do some crunches while she was playing on the floor.

 (Someone notify the authorities I think this woman ate a baby!!!!) 

Then, second pregnancy and six weeks bedrest. While I had a physical therapist come and work with me to keep some semblance of muscle tone -- I was only allowed out of bed for showers, to use the washroom and for one daily wheelchair ride -- my body was WRECKED after that. For real, it took forever to get back into pre-preg stuff. And even then, I could tell that my body had completely changes.

 (This was when I finally realized that the baby weight wouldn't magically disappear again.Also, I gain weight in my face first. Why can't I gain it in my boobs? WHY?)

This is when I started thinking more seriously about getting into better shape. But honestly, I didn't know where to start and I felt stupid and then I'd get all gung-ho about something and stop two days later. I joined a commercial gym. Hated it. I took some classes there. Not a fan. I paid a lot of money to feel guilty every time I looked a treadmill.

Finally, something clicked when my son was about 2 and I've been a regular exerciser ever since. I wanted to give you some of my fave workout tips that have contributed to me being in semi good shape. Am I a Victoria's Secret model? Nope. Am I happy with my body anyway? Yup.

Post-workout grossness and I don't caaare!

1. Get Social

Easily the most effective way for me to get my tush moving was to get some friends in on the action. I'm a hyper-social person in general and working out solo wasn't doing it for me. Not only does working out with friends get me the downlow on all of  the gossip I can handle, but it also brings out my competitive side. I'm much less likely to stop a workout and start eating Cookie Butter when I'm gauging my performance against my friends. I mean, I still eat Cookie Butter... just after I'm done.

2. Be Accountable

I'm SUPER easy on myself. When I'm not accountable, I won't work out, period. Like, ever. And then I start feeling like crap. And I know that not everyone has a group of friends who happen to like to exercise together, but that's where online friends come in handy. Blog about it. Get a Facebook page going. Use MyFitnessPal on your smartphone. Anything to put it out there that you have a goal and that you really, really want to reach it.

3. Make it Quick

When I work out with friends, it's usually an hour. And I'll admit that sometimes, an hour seems like a HUGE chunk out of an already super busy day. But when I work out alone, it's much faster. Because guess what? Exercising for 15 minutes is pretty much 100 times better than sitting there justifying to yourself that you don't have time to exercise. Two tools I love? Skimble, a workout app where you can plug in your time limit, equipment and type of workout you want and you can choose from like a zillion quick workouts. I also love BodyRock.tv's DailyHiit website, where they do high-intensity workouts that are never longer than 12 minutes. Awesome.

4. Trick Yourself

For me, working out is definitely mind over matter. Most of my battle is talking myself into actually doing it and then looking for the results. One of my favorite tricks is to get into workout clothes the second I get out of bed in the morning (tomorrow I'll show you some of my faves). Once I'm in workout clothes, it only makes sense that I would actually ... you know... work out. It takes away excuses.

Another trick I use is that I don't weigh myself. Ever. Last time was 6 weeks after my son was born and he's 4. I know that I would obsess over a number that doesn't present a clear picture of my effort and progress. Instead, I use clothes and performance to gauge how I'm doing. I want my clothes to fit and I want to get stronger. I'm proud to announce that yesterday I did 16 "bro" pushups, where you do a regular pushup and then hit your shoulder with the opposite hand each time you come back up. I felt like a champ, especially because a few weeks before I was doing them on my knees.

Screw the scale. You have bigger fish to fry.

Mmmm fish.

5. Give Yourself a Break

One of the things that derailed my progress was before was the idea that I either had to be the most amazing fitness enthusiast in the history of time, or nothing. Look, there are two types of people out there. 1) The live-to-exerciser who wants to spend all her time at the gym and take gym selfies and eat a crapton of quinoa. 2) People like me, where exercise is kind of a drag and something that I don't love to do, but I do it because I want to give my body a little credit and look good in a T-shirt.

Psst: You don't have to be all GO HARD EAT PROTEIN WEAR SWEATBANDS type to get your workout on. Give yourself a little break here. If you can't exercise today, whatever. Do it tomorrow. Missing one day doesn't give you permission to never exercise again. It does give you permission to rest up, spend a day eating chips and watching Real Housewives and then getting back at it again tomorrow. I think that was one of my biggest downfalls before -- I felt like if I couldn't give fitness 100 percent, 100 percent of the time, that I shouldn't bother. But giving like, 60 percent, 75 percent of the time still burns calories and makes you stronger than 0 percent, 0 percent of the time, right?

Right now I'm mixing up Turbo Kick, Piyo, which is a Pilates-yoga mix and HIITs for when I'm short on time. Now, spill -- what are your tricks for sneaking in a workout? Or did I just make you start craving a Big Mac?

Sorry.

What I Wore: Double Duty

I had a ca-razy weekend running around. I spent all day Saturday putting together my "Jae's Favorite Things" basket for the Team Katrina fundraiser and it was so much fun! Plus, look how cute it turned out!

It's packed with stuff like a gift card for shoes, sunnies, a super cute summer scarf in leopard print, natch, tons of my favorite makeup, bracelets, you name it. So come to the fundraiser and buy it, k? That would be swell.

Because the end of the school year is so miserably busy, I find that everything I wear has to pull double duty. There's a good chance I'll have to go to the school for something or grab some lunch with friends or hit the grocery store because I'm in charge of soccer snack and oh yeah, look semi-put together in case I have to FaceTime a client at some point. It's cold and rainy today, but when it's warm out, I'm all about the summer dress.

Dress: Old Navy (this year's version)

Chambray: Papaya (cheap one here)

Boots: Breckelles (here)

Belt: Aldo (similar)

Earrings: Buckle -- they're just plain hoops so I really doubt you need a link for that.
Ring: Inspired Silver (similar)

This is the easiest, peasiest alternative to wearing the same old tee and jeans that you're already sick of and awesome for hot weather. If it was really scorching, I'd ditch the chambray for a lighter shirt and skip the boots and do wedges or sandals instead. Endless possibilitiesssssss and just as easy as pants.

 

After all the running around, Saturday night was dedicated to The Great Gatsby and per my Facebook post, I totally wore yoga pants. It was two and a half hours long people! And I ate nachos! I need yoga pants for that. And I loved the movie -- it totally brought me back to Romeo + Juliet days and my husband was happy because it included classic cars.

Alright, I'm off for the day. Stay tuned this week because after my nacho binge, I'm ready to talk fitness + fashion together, including what I do when I totally don't feel like working out, some of my new fave workout clothes and some awesome accountability tools. Deal? Deal! 

Aaaaand now I'm craving nachos.

Asking Favors (or Favours if You're Canadian)

Interrupting regular scheduled programming to tell you guys about something that's uber-important.


As you guys know, I volunteer at my local hospital as a parent support worker. And it's fulfilling and lovely and was the best possible way for me to deal with my issues surrounding my super traumatic pregnancy last time around. I do a lot of work in the antepartum ward, which is where I spent six weeks of my last pregnancy before giving birth to a preemie and hanging out in the NICU for four weeks. Mostly I just pop by to chat and bring treats to the mamas who are staying on long-term bedrest.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend some time with a beautiful bedrest mom -- Katrina. We chatted for a while about mom stuff and I was surprised to hear that she was pregnant with her sixth baby -- she looked so young! I gave her some deets about NICU life, as her son would most likely spend time there and I promised to come visit her the week after.

Tragically, I received a message on Saturday that this gorgeous mom had passed away from serious complications in childbirth. Her son was fine -- he's a tough little fighter -- but her heart had simply stopped. When I was at the hospital this past Tuesday I learned a little more of the circumstances and felt sick and helpless, especially when thinking of this mom's family. That's the worst part about working at the hospital -- sometimes really sad things happen and you feel like you can't really do anything to help.

Which is why I was so happy when I was contacted through my blog by a group putting together a fundraiser for Katrina's family. They actually didn't know I had previously met Katrina, but asked if I would be willing to donate something to the fundraiser as a local blogger. We came up with the idea of a "Jae's Favorite Things" basket to be auctioned off during a silent auction at the fundraiser. I'm excited to get involved and so glad that this group thought of me.

Now, here's where I'm going to ask for a favor... or favour. Local girls, the fundraiser is at Viking Crossfit in Orem next Saturday. Here are the details:

If you can make it, that would be superb. I've seen some of the auction items  and door prizes and it looks like a lot of fun and I'm planning on stopping by as well. If you're not local and still want to help, there's an account set up at Wells Fargo under "Team Katrina" and also an indiegogo campaign, which you can access here.You can also score more info about the fundraiser and ways to help on the Team Katrina Facebook page.

Money definitely doesn't heal broken hearts, but I hope that through financial support, Katrina's sweet family will be able to take the time they need to grieve the loss of their mother and wife. Medical costs for a NICU baby can also be baffling. I also want them to know that even people like me -- who only knew Katrina for a short while -- were still touched by her life.

I know that usually my blog is light and peppered (and by peppered I mean doused) with sarcasm, but I wanted to take a time out to remember Katrina. Now, I'm off to shop for my basket - I'm thinking shoe gift cards and lots of beauty products and fun accessories. Pop by next Saturday and help support Katrina's fam, pretty please?

Thanks for putting up with the change in posting -- I'll be back to normal next week. You guys are peaches and the best readers a mom/fashion/llama blogger could have.

Summer Shoe Candy!

 ** This post has been sponsored by ShoeDazzle.com. All opinions are my own. **

Remember on Monday where I said that if you didn't get a good MD present, you can go buy shoes instead? Well, I'm gonna help you with that.

ShoeDazzle.com asked if I would check out some of their Spring and Summer offerings and since I spend most of my time looking at shoes anyway, I was happy to oblige. I went online and took a fun fashion quiz about which styles I liked and what types of shoes I wanted to see. Once you're done answering the questions, a stylist then puts together your own showroom with options you'd like the most. Of course, you can also browse around for other shoes too, which is exactly what I did. Now I'm excited for summer and *might* be ordering some wedges. Because I really need them.

 These are my picks for face summer shoes. Even if you don't buy them, you can see how pretty they are, right? Drooooool.And, can you help me decide which ones to get?

I finally found a pair of camo skinnies, praise the heavens. Can't wait to show you. But in the meantime (they're being shipped) I love these adorable flats. Can you imagine these with a khaki skirt and bright T-shirt? I die. Or colored skinnies! OK I'll stop now I'm sorry. 

I'm debating these as one of the pairs I want to buy. There's just something about a white shoe in summer time and that button is bringing out the 5-year-old in me. Large wooden buttons are just one of the joys in life. Screw raindrops on roses.

Please, a red canvas peeptoe wedge? Shut up about it. It's adorable. These with a pair of bermies on a summer date night? Your legs will look a mile long and your feet won't want to fall off like every time I wear heels on a date. I really want these too. UGH.  What is it with red shoes? I have 7 pairs already and I need moooore.












These sandals are boss. Like, I know that flip flops have their place in the world, but after wearing them for a while I kind of want to set them on fire. I love the ankle detail on these. Would they not be amazing with a maxi dress? The answer is yes. Yes they would. 












I love the "match everything" color of these wedges. They would seriously go with pretty much every piece of clothing I own. I'm also loving the way the leather wraps around the cork. And straps make me happy, especially when they hit under the ankle bone. Hellooooo tiny ankles.











Oh, excuse me cutest nautical espadrilles of all time. Would you like to belong to me? I would wear you on my boat with my swimsuit and be the cutest mom on the dock and everyone would be jealous oh please? 

These are another pair I am seriously considering. White and camel makes sweet, sweet love together and I can appreciate that. I have too many shorter summer dresses that are practically begging me to buy these.













Or I could go polka dot with these wedges. Because polka dot makes me so happy. Can you imagine these with a pair of cuffed skinnies, white tee and aqua belt? Instant make-people-jealousness.


Alright, what's your vote? I am in shoe overload and seriously can't choose! Let me know in the comments and I'll totally yield to peer pressure, I just know it!

And, if you're in the mood for shoes too, follow this link to ShoeDazzle.com -- it'll score you 25 percent off and free shipping, which puts the majority of these shoes around the $30 mark. And that's my happy place for shoes.

That reminds me... I really need a pedicure.

What I Wore: Mother's Day

So how was everyone's MD? I just met up with some of my friends for a workout and we all had mixed results. Mine went over well! I got a new Morali flat iron and my new favorite toy in the whole world -- a Keurig! I am a big tea drinker so my husband bought me like, the biggest, baddest Keurig they make. That thing is so cool... and it does cold drinks too. Brilliant! I them promptly went online and bought literally 100 k-cups for the thing. I enjoy excess. I've brewed like 900 cups of peppermint tea in the last 24 hours.

Of course, I also got the cute prezzies from the kids. My daughter gave me a book all about me in which she refers to her brother as "the devil." And my son gave me a dead plant that he potted at school, but then hid in our closed-off, dark guest room for a week without water. Classic, right?

Also, I got my nap. After wearing this and then changing into stretchy pants for the day.

 Dress: Dorothy Perkins - sold out (similar)

Blazer: F21 (here)

Belt: ASOS (similar)

Shoes: G by Guess (with ankle strap)

Earrings: I have no idea I bought them at TJ Maxx lol!
Cuff: F21 (here)

 I'm totally doing the bend and snap here but you must see the gold on these heels LOVE.

 Accessory pic! Love me some gold and black accents.

This dress is a bit big for me so I belted it, but like, five minutes into wearing this I ended up ditching the belt. It was hot and there is nothing worse than belt sweat amiright? 

So yes, I felt pretty good about Mother's Day. However, if you're one of the moms who felt totally passed over yesterday, you have my permission to buy a pair of shoes. With your husband's credit card. 

Freaky Friday: Llama Drama

I'm interrupting regular Freaky Friday to bring you this awesome tale of animal taming and to reiterate how much I dislike the end of the school year.

Yesterday my son's preschool class had a field trip planned. We live fairly close to the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple, which has a huge llama farm attached to it, so the kids were going to take a tour of the grounds and then feed and ride some llamas. I was going to opt out of going because I pretty much always opt out of going, but my son gave me a puppy dog look and asked if I'd come too, so I loaded up the car and headed over.

While we situated the kids at the preschool, Andrew's teacher let us know that yesterday's group went and weren't able to ride the llamas because apparently they got out of the pen and ran away and the keepers couldn't catch them again. So, the keeper asked that we head straight for the llamas when we got there and take care of the kids' rides before the llamas got wise and took off again.

I had no idea llamas were so diabolical.

So we all pull up to the Temple. There are at least a dozen other moms there to the 20 or so kids and luckily, one of my friends was there with her son. We let the kids run off and play as we chatted for a minute. The kids all sat on the temple steps to hear a spiel from the keeper.

She talked exactly like this:















So naturally, I started giggling.

She explained that they would walk down to the llama pens, feed the llamas and then take them down to the ride pavilions. Sure! I took Andrew and we walked. Which is when he informed me that the farm stunk and he wanted to go home. Oh, no, Andrew. We must stay! It's so fun! He took one look at those llamas and was like:



So we stayed back and looked at some peacocks while the other kids fed the llamas.

Then, the Lover Lady -- as she came to be known in my brain -- let the llamas out of the pen and proceeded to put them on DOG LEASHES.

DOG. LEASHES.



She had one high school-looking helper and only two llamas that would let kids ride them, so I thought oh, OK, she has the helper to help lead the llamas. They started in the direction of the pavilion and all of us moms and kids followed.

Halfway down the hill, the Lover looks at me -- dressed in my stylish and very country-looking Fryes, of course -- and says "Can you handle this llama?" And me and my friend are like:



But since I never say no to ANYONE, I said yes.OF COURSE I could handle the llama. I have my Ph.D. in Llama-Handling with a minor in I'm a Freaking Idiot Who Needs to Learn to Say No.

I take the leash and the llama. And, while my friend is quietly laughing me, she's handed the other leash. HA! And I get all smug like:



Because suddenly I'm the best llama wrangler you've ever seen. And I'm wearing my motherfletching Fryes like I was born to live on a llama farm.

So we lead these llamas down to the pavilion and the teacher starts getting the kids organized. This is when my llama and I start developing a deep-seated hatred for each other. I'm just standing there, trying to be as far away from this animal as possible and he wants to be my face. All of a sudden he's like:



And I start panicking, because llamas are scary. I should also point out that I'm afraid of anything erratic. Birds. Spiders. Llamas for sure. They can smell fear.

Also, my llama wants to be face-to-face and his breath smells like death wrapped in congealed bacon and then set on fire and covered in poo.

The Lover puts a kid up on this makeshift saddle thing and tells me to start leading the llama across to the other pavilion. Sure thing, boss! Of course, this is when the llama begins kicking his legs wildly and I'm faced with visions of telling this child's mother that he was killed in a freak llama stampede. When the Lover noticed that my llama was "acting up", she puts ANOTHER leash on him and tells her helper to also try leading him. Suuuuure.

As we start our walk, we find out that my friend's llama will only walk if there's another llama in front of it. So I have to go in front. We make it across one pass and unload the kid and are loading a new one.

And this is when my llama starts growling at me.

But llamas don't growl so much as they make annoyed Marge Simpson noises. The helper holding onto the other side of my llama says "That noise means he's really upset" and then proceeds to put another child on the llama's back. This is when the llama begins to growl louder and toss his head like Ru Paul at a drag show:



He Does. Not. Want.

I'm hanging on for dear life and praying that the kid doesn't fall off and we try and make another pass. Halfway across the pavilions, my llama decides that he's real tired of this crap and wants to go home. He's clearly having some sort of crisis.



The only way to get him to keep going is to put a bowl of food in his face. The helper grabs one and holds it out and the llama then proceeds to viciously bash his face into the bowl, grab a mouthful of food and then eat it in a way that flings mushy food particles all over me.














So the order of people was now helper, helper's bowl, me, my devil llama, my friend and her obstinate llama.

I am now covered in llama hair, llama food and still hanging onto a leash attached to a llama who I am sure wants to eat my soul for breakfast. All of the kids -- except for mine -- wanted to go for a ride and I was basically dead inside. And did any other mom step in for a turn? No! Everytime I tried to catch one of their eyes they'd be like:



An hour later and we were finally done. The Lover took us on a tour of the rest of the grounds, including such delights like
- feeding the koi three full containers of goldfish food.
- seeing two parrots who would snap your finger like a twig
- learning about why cows are our ancestors
- and seeing a random rabbit that jumped across the property

When we finally ended the tour and were allowed to leave I was just dirty and done. I went to the nearest restaurant, scrubbed myself as much as possible and then ordered a cupcake. Last night I also took the world's longest shower/bath combo to get the llama stink out.



And I never want to see another llama again in my life. 


The best news? My daughter has a field trip today.













THE END.

Mother's Day Ideas That Don't Totally Suck: Under $50

Don't you love it when you pine away for a little Mother's Day recognition, but then when your husband asks what you want you're all like "Uhh I don't know" or even worse "YOU SHOULD JUST KNOW WHAT I WANT!"

Well, he doesn't. He doesn't know what you want. But I'm here to help. Whether you're trying to figure out something to buy for your own mom or you need a literal list complete with links to send to your husband, I've got you covered. Here's some of my picks for Mother's Day presents that don't suck.

An adorable tote:

Archila

I have a huge Calvin Klein tote that I use as my church bag that I would pretty much just die without. I mean, I have a normal purse, but I also have to carry a metric ton of crap around sometimes, which is where a tote comes in super handy. Plus, girls like getting bags. The End. And while this one is $55, you can find a ton of cute totes under the $50 mark.







A nap:

Please for the love of all that is holy. A nap. Because although the point of Mother's Day is to celebrate the fact that I have children, I wouldn't mind not seeing them for two hours.


A statement gloss:

Dior Beauty Addict Gloss

Buying makeup for anyone other than yourself is iffy. Unless that makeup is Dior Beauty Addict Gloss. It's the perfect lip gloss and comes in a bazillion shades and the tube is pretty and it makes me happy. This would be such a luxe gift to give to your makeup-lovin' mama or a cute splurge for yourself. PS: A tube of this stuff literally lasts me a year.







Something really super decadent:

I'm not big on candy in general -- I'm more of a bread gal. But when it comes to holidays, I love some big fluffy cupcakes or a huge bakery cake -- just something I didn't have to make and won't feel guilty about consuming. And it's so easy for the guys. Proceed to bakery. Pick out something fancy. Present to wife and mother of your children. Collect kudos. 


Never-go-out-of-style jewelry:

Kate Spade New York - Skinny Mini Pav Bow Studs (Clear/Gold) - Jewelry

Skip the kid's birthstone jewelry and go for something classic instead. Kate Spade bows will last forever and literally go with anything unlike your kid's birth stone. Both of mine are amethyst: ick.




Monthly beauty boxes:

OK, I'll admit I'm a bit of a product whore. So I totally love the idea of a monthly box with beauty products sent to me. Hello, gift that keeps on giving! For $10, ipsy.com sends you a box with four or five samples and full-size products based on your feedback on the stuff you love. Plus, getting something in the mail other than bills makes me happy.


Non-lame bath products:

Ocean Salt

Call me the most predictable girl of all time, but I love me some bath products. GOOD bath products. My brother's fiancee works for LUSH and she is always giving me awesome natural soap, fizzers, moisturizers and stuff because she understands that we both have a deep and bonding love for bath products. I fill up my jetted tub, dump in the smell-goods and queue up Mad Men on my iPad. Bliss.I love this scrub but I also love their Whoosh jelly and solid moisturizers too. And it all smells SO GOOD.



A chick flick and a promise to watch it without whining:

I did this with both The Time Traveler's Wife and Monte Carlo with my poor husband. But sometimes I just want to sit and sob over a movie and not be judged, OK. And DVDs are like what? $8 at Walmart? Even a tiny budget can handle this plus some theater candy.

Folding flats:

CitySlips Luxe Patent Contrast Toe Foldable Travel Flats

Yeah, maybe this is just on my list. But for all the crazy shoes I wear, I would love these as a Mother's Day present. They're adorable and they fit in your purse -- or in my case, giant Calvin Klein tote. And considering the condition of my feet from one too many mean shoes, they look pretty heavenly.










So that's everything on my list this year! What are you hoping for/doing for your own mama?